Half Dead Responses
by Half Quiet Half Not
Summary: When you combine long nights, frustration, training, and a teenager things happen...like Danny only being able to respond to his friends commands thanks to an accident. So what happens if certain people find out his two best friends control the ghost boy?
1. Chapter 1

The night air hung unusually heavy over the quiet weekday evening in Amity Park, still peaceful as the night time activities of the small town began and the daytime activities ended. The peace, however, ended abruptly as three rapidly fired ecto shots cut through the air. The figure they had been aimed at dodged one, phased through another, and stayed still as the third missed him completely.

He looked at his opponent as a wry look came to his glowing green eyes. "Is that all you got?" Danny Phantom shouted at the girl now facing him and glaring at him through her helmet as she crouched on her surf-board shaped hover board, shaking in rage. "I know a grandmother that can shoot better than that!" the boy let himself fall through the pavement below as yet another volley of shots came his way.

He flew a few feet underneath the ground only to shoot up barely three feet behind the red suited figure. An ectoplsmic blast from his finger took out one of the engines powering her vehicle, and caused the other one to malfunction. She yelped as the board jolted, and then started careening out of control in the direction she had been facing at the time, which also happened to send her skidding across the top of the nearest fast food restaurant, the Nasty Burger. The hover board shot out from under her, and crashed into the parking lot, while her suit snagged on one of the signs, and she hung from it, dazed.

"I hope you like extra grease!" Danny smiled triumphantly and turned away from her. She'd either get down by herself, or someone would be along soon to rescue her. He didn't need to worry about this particular problem for a while.

"Don't think this over ghost!" She screamed after him as he flew away. "I'll be back…AND I'M GONNA MAKE YOU PAY!"

"Yeah, sure," Danny shook his head and muttered to himself before letting his body drop to the ground as soon as the nasty burger disappeared from view. With a sigh, he allowed his human form to take over panting heavily as he tried to get his breath back, and dropped the triumphant, crowing attitude. "She's getting better," he gasped. "I think it's time for another training session."

And with that, he turned and walked through the growing darkness.

"Do I always dodge to the left?" Danny asked himself as he pondered his last few moves when he'd dodged blasts from several automated ectoplasmic guns on the opposite wall. Then he sighed and reactivated the program.

As the shots came at him yet again, he forced himself to move in different ways than he normally would when fighting. It took every ounce of strength he had to force himself to not use any powers as he dodged the glowing shots of energy. He dove to the side as one of the blasts hit right where he had been standing. Then he rolled forward as another gun shot at him from behind.

He jumped up on a table and ran between two of the blasters before jumping out of their paths as they shot each other with a satisfying blast. He didn't allow himself time to hesitate for a moment of triumph, but worked himself into the corner of the room, and jumped backwards as several other shots came at him.

After several more rolls and dodges, he paused in the corner again for a moment to see how many blasters remained operational. He spotted three moving out of the twelve he had activated. He'd taken out eight this time around, and that didn't count the seven he'd disabled in his previous session.

Charging out of the corner, he jumped right, directly at one of the mini ecto cannons. It charged up and prepared to release its energy shot. Danny wrenched his body to the right, and managed to dodge the streamline energy. The shot went wide and hit another of the wall mounted blasters. He stuck his hand out and grabbed he gun as he started to fall. The sudden weight on the bolts was enough to rip it from the wall.

He landed in a crouch on the floor, and ran towards the last working cannon, zigzagging his way across the room. When he got close enough to disable it he threw the one that remained in his hand in front of the blast it sent towards him, and tore the weapon from its brackets.

He slid down the wall and sat down panting heavily for the second time that night.

"All targets neutralized," said an obviously impressed voice. "Nice, I can't believe you managed to do that without using your powers once."

"Neither can I, Tuck. That was a lot harder than I expected it to be," Danny replied.

Sam stayed where she had been sitting the entire time. "Well let's see. You had to make your way through a heavily guarded room working your way around obstacles and taking out the machines that were shooting at you. How could you not expect that to be hard? Especially when you refused to use your powers."

"I didn't say I thought it would be easy," he countered. "I said it was harder than I expected."

"Yeah Sam, give him a break. Neither of us could have done it."

"Whatever," she brushed her short black hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear as she looked at the clipboard in her hand. "Next on the list is form splitting." Danny groaned. He'd been able to do so before, but he'd had a power up suit on at the time, and while it still didn't cause him as much of a problem as it once did, there were few things that could drain his energy more (in him and any clones he managed to create). On top of that, he still couldn't control it to a point where he could split himself equally every time, if at all.

"Hey Danny," Tucker winked at him, "You gonna be a two headed ghost again? Oh, and don't forget the one eye." The African-American boy slapped his knee and bent over, laughing.

Sam simply shook her head and returned her attention to her other best friend, who grimaced at the memory. It hadn't exactly been a good first try. Of course neither of them understood how much effort went in to splitting his form even that much. He'd been seriously drained most of that following week. And the whole fight with Plasmius almost immediately afterwards hadn't helped either.

Danny took a deep breath as he prepared himself for the effort. He focused his ectoplasmic energy into splitting his cells. He felt strange as the sensation overcame him...different from what he usually felt. He heard a small gasp as he suddenly lost control of the energy.

Danny opened his eyes to see the effects of his work. He knew instantly that he had failed to duplicate himself. With a sigh, he looked up and down his body to see what had happened. Once again he had managed to split himself only partially, not that he had truly expected more, but he had hoped.

"Aw man!" he whined, taking in the two arms on his right side, which complemented the three on his left. His left leg had doubled and his right had disappeared all together.

His anger seemed to intensify the longer he looked at the malformed body. "Dang it," he growled. "Why won't this work! How am I going to defeat Vlad if I can't even get control of my powers. Stupid littl-"

Danny slammed one of his five fists into the table his parents used to fix their weapons. As his hand came into contact with one of the exposed circuits on the table, electricity seemed to spark from his fist.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" he screamed as his body suddenly burst into what felt like flame. That was the last thing he remembered before he fell into unconsciousness


	2. The Problem

"DANNY!" Sam and Tucker yelled simultaneously, and ran over to their fallen friend.

Sam reached him first. "Danny! DANNY can you hear me?" But he didn't respond.

"He's breathing, right?" Tucker asked, his voice shaking. Sam leaned down and put her ear close to his mouth. There... a slight breath, but a breath none the less; and a second one.

"Yes," She nodded, sitting back up.

"Do you think he'll be okay?"

Sam glared at him. "How should I know?" She looked back at her friend, and her stomach suddenly began to tie in knots. What if he wasn't okay? Was he going to die right here? Was he going to be around tomorrow like he'll always been, to smile or throw a sarcastic comment at her?

The realization of the danger that he put himself in almost every day suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks. How often did she really think that they could dodge death or obliteration? How often could they truly save the town, let alone the world, without serious consequences?

"Danny," she leaned down and shook his shoulders again, a touch of urgency and hysterics creeping into her voice. "Danny, please! Open your eyes!" She was expecting--hoping for really--a groan, or his hand to move or something other than his now blue eyes snapping open and staring blankly ahead. She gasped at the suddenness of the movement, and then breathed a sigh of relief.

"DON'T SCARE US LIKE THAT!" Tucker bellowed. Danny didn't move, although Sam jumped a mile, before turning and punching the nerd's arm, hard. "Ow!" her friend rubbed his arm. "You shouldn't hit nerds with glasses," he grumbled. She ignored him and turned back to Danny.

"Danny? Are you okay?" He didn't answer, and that horrible, sick feeling started to creep back into her stomach. "Danny, answer me. Are you hurt?"

"No," he said simply.

Once again, she felt relief wash over her, and relaxed, sitting back on her haunches. "Then why don't you sit up?" He didn't say anything, but shot bolt-upright, causing both of his friends to jump and lean away from him.

Tucker recovered first. "Dude, calm down. You look like you just had a double espresso with white chocolate…ew."

"Yeah, Danny," Sam pulled her legs under her and started to stand up. "You shouldn't have to react that fast unless you're fighting or running or something. We're your friends, not your enemies."

"Dude, are you sure you're okay?" Tucker stood and walked over to where Danny still sat, staring strait ahead unresponsively.

"Danny?" Sam waved a hand in front of him, but he didn't blink or look away. The two friends exchanged worried glances and leaned closer to him.

Tucker shook Danny's shoulders. "DANNY?"

Sam shouldered him aside slightly and looked into Danny's pale-blue eyes. "Um…HELLO! You should answer people when they ask you questions, you know!" She narrowed her eyes as her mouth set into a thin line. She'd had just about enough of this.

Tucker nodded, agreeing with her for once. "Yeah!"

"Did you hear us?" Sam asked, leaning in closer.

"Yes I did, Sam," Danny answered in a monotone voice.

"Dude, didn't I tell you not to scare us like that?"

"Yes you did, Tucker." Sam and Tucker exchanged glances a second time, and an uneasy feeling settled over the now silent room.

Sam decided to break the expectant tension. "So, do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Yes," he replied. They waited a few seconds longer, until the Goth girl lost her patience.

She growled and slapped a hand to her head. "Then say it!"

He barely took a breath before stating in the same, boring voice, "I'm sorry, and I can't control my body."

"What?" both teens practically yelled.

"I'm sorry, and I can't control my body," Danny repeated.

Tucker scratched the back of his head as he watched his friend. "Well, this just hit about a 9.0 on the weirdness scale."

xoxoxox

Sam's voice came to him through the fuzzy blackness, but he could barely hear her. Heck, he couldn't even understand what she was saying. Not until she put her hands on his back and shook him.

"Open your eyes!" The next thing he knew, he was lying down, and looking at Sam's purple leggings and black boots. He tried to say something, but his mouth refused to respond. What was going on? He tried to move his hand, but nothing happened. He realized that Sam and Tucker were still talking--okay, shouting--about him not scaring them like that. At their words, something seemed to jump inside of him, as if reacting to them. Then they were talking about whether he was okay.

"Danny, answer me! Are you hurt?" Of its on accord, his mouth opened, and he heard his voice speaking.

"No." He hadn't really done that, he realized suddenly. What was going on? Why couldn't he move again? Why couldn't he talk?

"Then why don't you sit up?" She asked. He wanted to tell that he couldn't, and that he didn't know what was going on, or why he couldn't move, but instead he felt his muscles tighten, and his body snap into a sitting position. Even if he would have been able to talk, he wouldn't be able to say anything out of shock.

"Dude, calm down. You look like you just had a double espresso with white chocolate…ew." He just wanted to open his mouth and agree. Heck, he'd take disagreeing right about now. What had gone so wrong? What was going on? Was this some sort of trick one of his enemies had decided to get back at him with?

"Yeah, Danny," Sam began to rise to her feet. "You shouldn't have to react that fast unless you're fighting or running or something. We're your friends, not your enemies." He felt something react inside of him again. The same feeling as before, although he couldn't put his thumb on what it was.

"Dude, are you sure you're okay?" He could barely see Tucker walk towards him out of the corner of his eye.

"Danny?" Sam waved a hand in front of him. Normally his eyes would have blinked, or reacted in some way, but again, nothing. He wanted to scream in frustration, but could only watch as his friends glanced at each other, and leaned towards him.

He felt Tucker grab his shoulders and start to shake him. "DANNY?"

Then Sam's almost purple eyes appeared in front of him. "Um…HELLO!" she half-yelled, half-growled. You should answer people when they ask you questions, you know!" That same reaction hit him, somewhere inside again as Sam narrowed her eyes in annoyance. If he could have, he would have winced.

"Yeah!" Tucker's voice at least helped him focus somewhere besides her accusing expression.

"Did you hear us?" her lilac eyes coming closer normally caused some sort of reaction, and now was no exception. His heart raced as she got closer, but he couldn't make himself move away. He liked his space…couldn't she move away? After a few seconds, his discomfort changed to desperation, although his voice once again spoke of its own accord.

"Yes I did, Sam." Why was that all he could say? Why could he only respond to them? What the heck was going on!

"Dude, didn't I tell you not to scare us like that?" Tucker asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"Yes you did, Tucker," he replied, trying with all his might to say something else too. Again, nothing.

After several seconds, Sam sat back, much to his relief. "So, do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Yes," he replied.

Again, he could only watch as she growled and slapped a hand to her head. "Then say it!" she yelled.

"I'm sorry, and I can't control my body," he said, wanting to give a sigh of relief. FINALLY!

"WHAT?" both of his friends yelled at him.

"I'm sorry, and I can't control my body," Danny repeated, and tried to tell them more, but it was if his brain and mouth were disconnected somehow.

"Well, this just hit about a 9.0 on the weirdness scale," Tucker said. Danny couldn't agree more, and he didn't like it.

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Thank you two for submitting a response and reading this. It means a lot to both of us authors. Yes, it's two rather well-known authors here on :D Hope you like the updates!


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